Soar

“Jared needs someone to keep him company?”

“It’s boring up here.” Jared tried to shrug it off, but I could tell he was embarrassed at the insinuation that he couldn’t handle something on his own. I understood the feeling.

That didn’t mean I was going to let him get away with putting his dirty shoes on my desk again. “Get out of my chair.”

“You didn’t care yesterday.”

“That’s because I thought it was a one-time visit. It’s not happening today.”

“Ah, I get it.”

“You do? Then why aren’t you moving?”

“You didn’t get laid, did you? Casey freezing you out? I’ve seen what that can do to a guy.” He grinned.

I did to, but I wasn’t admitting he was right. “Get out of my chair.”

“Fine, chill out.” He got up and took a seat on the window sill.

“I’m hoping you have news.” If they were just there to annoy me, they’d have it coming to them.

“I did some digging last night while you were busy not screwing your girl.”

“Just spit it out.”

“There’s something major going down. I don’t have details, but I can tell they’re planning something big.”

“Something big? Is that all you have?”

Jared slid off the window and started to pace. “I need to talk to your inside man.”

“I’ll talk to him for you.”

“No.” He scowled. “I’ll do it myself.”

“He knows me. He’ll tell me more.”

“And I work directly for the king. I hold more authority, and he’ll respond to that.”

“No one up here gives a damn about the king.” Myself included, but I didn’t say that part out loud.

“Is that what you think? Those little chicken shits can’t even look me in the eye, they’re so scared of him.”

“They can’t look you in the eye because they hate you and the king.”

Owen laughed. “Harsh.”

“But true.”

Jared stopped right in front of me. “Why would they hate the king? He’s not the one who killed their leader.”

I glared at him. “Shut the f**k up, Florence. This has nothing to do with my grandfather. It has to do with New Orleans acting like they’re better than us. New Yorkers don’t take well to being told a decaying southern city holds more sway.”

“Decaying southern city?” Jared got up in my face. “Is that what you think?”

I didn’t blink. “It’s a trash heap. We all know it.”

Jared’s eyes started turning black and Owen grabbed him. “He’s just messing with you, man. Let it go.”

“No. No f**king way this asshat with a stick up his ass is going to put down NOLA.”

“I’m an asshat and I have a stick up my ass? Very original.”

“Drop it, Toby.” Owen said it quietly, but there was a warning in his words. I knew I could probably hold my own in a fight with Jared, but we had bigger problems to deal with.

“If I call in my guy, will you guys get out of here?”

“Why are you in such a hurry to get rid of us? Are you hiding something?” Jared’s eyes were slowly fading back to their usual brown.

“No, I just want some peace and quiet.”

“Come on, Toby. You know you love having us around.” Jared had an annoying way of glazing over things and falling back on sarcasm.

“I’ll make the call.” I picked up the phone and called Tim. This was one of those things that would look bad if I did it myself. “Get Marv in here now.”

“Is there a reason why?”

“The reason is that two crows are sitting in my office.”

Jared chuckled. “I heard that, hawk boy.”

Pterons are tied to a variety of birds, and although we view each other as superior to all other shifters, we don’t particularly like each other.

“I’ll get him.” Tim hung up.

My cousin could be annoying, but he got the job done. They’d been more than happy to step up and work for me when my grandfather died, and they’d proven themselves more useful than I originally anticipated.

I wanted to grill Tim about any updates on Casey’s place, but I wasn’t doing that in front of Jared. With any luck, Eric would accompany his uncle in and I’d learn more. I cared too much about her to just sit back and wait. I wanted to hit whoever was after her head on. I was going to find out who was after Casey and why, but I hated the sinking feeling that she was hiding something from me. She got weird when I’d asked about past boyfriends, and my gut told me it all tied in. As long as she hadn’t dated other Pterons, I’d be okay. I wasn’t ready to deal with that again.

“How long’s it going to take?” Jared asked.

“Not long.”

“Where can I get a cup of coffee around here?”

“There’s a Starbucks downstairs.”

“No complimentary coffee for your guests?”

“You’re not my guests, but there’s some down the hall.”

“Thanks. We’ll be back.” They walked out of the room.

I settled into my desk chair and treated myself to a few more thoughts of Casey. It had been ages since I’d craved a girl, and as sexually frustrated as I felt, I preferred the feeling to the numbness that had been there before. I sent her a text. You didn’t make me coffee this morning.

After sending it, I realized she might not check her phone at work. She answered that question when she replied a minute later. I’ll make you some tonight.

I smiled. Even better.

Chapter Sixteen

Casey

No matter how many times I did it, I hated closing. I didn’t do it alone. Eric always seemed to be with me, but there was something about having to stay around long after everyone else left that I didn’t like. It was also right before closing that the biggest weirdos came in. Sometimes they were there to see Eric, but other times they just seemed to want coffee and nearly stale pastries.

I was busy mentally recounting my kiss with Toby for the hundredth time when the bell dinged signaling someone entering the store. Eric was out back dumping the trash. He’d taken Rhett to heart and didn’t make me do it anymore. “Can I help you?”

Thanks to a pair of tinted glasses and a hood, I had no idea who the person in front of me was, but my skin crawled as the figure stepped closer. The figure was large, so I assumed it was a male, but I had no clue.